The Panama Canal

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The Side View

Along Side The Ship

Upper left: We see tiny specks on the navigation deck watching the sights or working to get the ship into position. On the track beside the lock we see a string of mules. One of them guiding the bow of the Sun Princess. Our stateroom was in the middle of the ship, and a mule worked nearly below us. There were 3 mules on each side of the ship.

Upper right: These numbers were on the side of the lock to help navigators know how much more room they have in the front of the lock, and how many feet behind them to the gates.

Lower right: This building was near Miraflores Lake. The white strip below the hill in the distant background is part of the lake. We're nearly through the first set of locks.

Of course we had our stateroom TV tuned into the program from the bridge. They always have pictures from bridge on the stateroom televisions. Most of the time there's nothing of interest to see. But when the ship passes through points of interest, they have pictures and commentary from an expert on the subject. Here they had someone knowledgeable on the construction and operation of the canal. When we were in Glacier Bay on the Alaska cruise, they had two park rangers talking to us from the bridge along with pictures. The audio also is piped to all the public rooms on the ship.

Notice the red-roofed two-story building on the right. There's a flag pole on the near right corner of that building. It has always flown the American flag. Although the canal was supposed to be officially American until December 31^st, no flag flew on that building on December 16^th.